Chapter 11 Recovery Calculator: How Much Will Creditors Actually Get?

Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganisation is fundamentally a negotiation about how much different classes of creditors will recover — and whether the reorganised business can feasibly generate the cash flows to fund the proposed repayment plan. Unlike Chapter 7 which liquidates everything and distributes proceeds, Chapter 11 keeps the business operating and asks creditors to accept a repayment plan that may pay them over 3-7 years at a fraction of what they are owed. The recovery rate varies dramatically by creditor class. Secured creditors — those with collateral backing their claims — typically recover 70-100% in reorganisation, while unsecured creditors frequently recover 10-50 cents on the dollar, and equity holders often recover nothing. The absolute priority rule governs the waterfall: each senior class must be paid in full (or consent to less) before a junior class receives anything. This calculator models a Chapter 11 reorganisation across the full creditor waterfall. It shows estimated recovery by class, compares reorganisation recovery against Chapter 7 liquidation recovery to test whether the plan meets the best-interest-of-creditors test, and models whether the reorganised business's projected EBITDA can service the proposed plan payments. It gives both business owners evaluating Chapter 11 and creditors evaluating whether to support a plan the quantitative framework to make informed decisions. Updated 2026-03-06 · Samir Messaoudi.